Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Nanotubes help cloak objects in a mirage: Ali Aliev and colleagues at the University of Texas in Dallas embedded a sheet of carbon nanotubes into aerogel, a foam-like material. When electrically heated, the nanotubes bent light waves to create a mirage, effectively cloaking the sheet and anything behind it.

Aliev says the mirage forms because the nanotubes transfer heat to the surrounding air more efficiently than regular metals, allowing a steeper temperature gradient to form near the device's surface.